Method of continuously cleaning rolls in the processing of coil, sheet and plate material



Aug. 20, 1968 F. MAUST 3,398,022

METHOD OF CON UO Y CLEANING ROLLS IN THE PROCESSING OF IL, SHEET AND PLATE MATERIAL Filed Sept. 18, 1962 3 SheetsSheet 1 FIG. I. 2 2s 27 ,28 FIGZ. 26 -4 297 o 25 m 25 INVENTOR FREDERICK K. MAUST his ATTORNEY Aug. 20, 1968 F. K. MAUST 3,398,022

METHOD OF CONTINUOUSLY CLEANING ROLLS IN THE PROCESSING OF COIL, SHEET AND PLATE MATERIAL Filed Sept. 18, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 78 8Q INVENTOR FREDERICK K. MAUST his ATTORNEY Aug. 20, 1968 METHOD OF C PROCESSING Filed Sept. 18, 1962 F. K. MAUST ONTINUOUSLY CLEANIN OF COIL, SHEET AND 3,398,022 G ROLLS IN THE PLATE MATER 5 e ts-Sheet 5 I03 INVENTOR FREDERICK K. MAUST his ATTORNEY ted States atent Gi METHOD OF CONTINUOUSLY CLEANING ROLLS IN THE PROCESSING OF COIL, SHEET AND PLATE MATERIAL Frederick K. Maust, Queens Village, N.Y.; Hedwig Maust and John Grill, administrators of said Frederick K. Maust, deceased, assignors to Hedwig 'Maust, Queens Village, NY.

Filed Sept. 18, 1962, Ser. No. 224,342 Claims. (Cl. 134-6) This invention relates primarily to the continuous cleaning of rolls, such as used in rolling mills, roller levelers, feed rolls, pinch rolls, bridle and tension rolls in the rolling and processing of coil, sheet and plate material.

It has always been a serious problem to keep an unblemished finish on the work material ,while processing it through the various stages into the desired end product. The work rolls pick up and accumulate loose, minute metal particles, metal oxides, dust and other extraneous matter from the work material, as well as from the surrounding atmosphere and, thus, mar the finish of the metal surface. This is particularly objectionable in the processing of material with bright finish, such as stainless steel, aluminum, brass, copper, etc. For this reason, very frequent cleaning and polishing of the work rolls and also of their associated auxiliary rolls has heretofore been necessary. Inasmuch as said extraneous particles are usually imbedded in the rolls on account of the high working pressures prevailing during the processing, the rolls must be removed from the equipment for effective cleaning, polishing or regrinding. Production is, thus, frequently interrupted.

One primary object of the present invention is to clean the work rolls continuously during processing material by providing wiper rolls in rolling contact with said work rolls throughout their operative length, said wiper rolls being provided with suitable recesses adapted for continuous wiping and cleaning action and having an outside diameter different than that of their associated work rolls.

Another object is to provide apertures in the recesses of the wiper rolls with suction connections for removal of accumulated extraneous particles in said recesses.

Another object is to provide banks of relatively short, adjustably arranged back-up rolls for the wiper rolls to maintain a predetermined contact pressure between said wiper rolls and their associated work rolls for procuring the desired wiping and cleaning action and/ or for deflecting the wiper rolls and their associated work rolls.

A further object is to provide the wiper rolls with right-hand and left-hand helical grooves to neutralize end thrust.

An additional object is to provide novel means for quickly removing the work rolls and their associated wiper rolls from the equipment, of which they form a part, in order to reduce the time required for roll changes and other occasional maintenance.

A still further object is to rotate the wiper roll and its associated work roll by drive means, such as couplings and drive shafts, at substantially identical circumferential speed.

These and other objects will be pointed out in the specification and claims together with the drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a partial side view of a rolling mill, showing grooved rolls for supporting and cleaning the work rolls along their operative length.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial side view of a four-high rolling mill, showing auxiliary grooved wiper rolls, employing two substantially full-length wiper rolls for cleaning the top Work roll and one such wiper roll each for cleaning the lower work and lower back-up roll, respectively.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a roll stand showing work rolls, full-length grooved wiper rolls and banks of short, adjustable back-up rolls.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a cross-section in part of a Sendzimir-type rolling mill, showing each work roll engaged by two grooved wiper rolls, and each grooved Wiper roll, in turn, engaged by two plain support rolls for continuously cleaning work rolls, as well as support rolls.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a roller leveler incorporating substantially full-length grooved wiper rolls located between the work rolls and their associated banks of short back-up rolls.

FIG. 9 is a right-hand side view of FIG. 8 showing the wiper rolls grooved in one direction.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional View taken on the line 10-10 of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a partial cross-section of FIG. 10, showing the upper and lower roll banks to a larger scale. 7

FIG. 12 is a partial diagrammatic exploded plan View of the upper entry and center roll bank of the leveler shown in FIGS. 8, 9, 10, 11 with alternating left-hand helical grooves in successive wiper rolls to equalize the thrust and to wipe the rolls by two opposite wiping patterns.

FIG. 13 is an exploded plan view showing a modified arrangement of the leveler shown in FIG. 12, in which one grooved wiper roll is employed for cleaning two adjacent work rolls along their operative length and in which each Wiper roll is provided partly with left-hand and partly with right-hand helical grooves.

FIG. 14 is a view, similar to FIG. 12 having part left and right-hand helical grooves in each wiper roll, as shown in FIG. 13, the wiper rolls being rotated by frictional contact with their associated work rolls.

FIG. 15 is a partial cross-sectional view of the upper roll bank of a leveler, wherein one wiper roll is employed for cleaning two adjacent work rolls, as in FIG. 13, but employing a modified auxiliary roll arrangement; and

FIG. 16 is a right-hand side view of FIG. 15.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a coil or sheet of work material 20 passes between upper and lower work rolls 21 of a rolling mill. The work rolls 21 are journaled at 22 and are driven by universal joints 23 and drive shafts 24. The work rolls 21 are supported by upper and lower wiper rolls 25, having bores 25', which are journaled or rotatably mounted in bearings 26 and can be driven in some uses by universal joints 27 and drive shafts 28 at the same circumferential speed as the work rolls 21. The upper roll assembly, consisting of work roll, wiper roll and bearings, can be raised and lowered in the usual manner to reduce the thickness of the material passed between the work rolls. Each wiper roll 25 may be provided on its work roll engaging face or surface with opposed left-hand and right-hand helical grooves or recesses 29, which may overlap in the middle of the barrel or face at 30 and extend to each end of the barrel or face of the roll 25. It will be noted that the wiper rolls 25 contact their associated wor-k rolls 21 throughout the respective operative length of the latter.

To accomplish the wiping action, the outside diameter of the grooved wiper roll is shown of different size than the diameter of their respective work rolls 21. When rotating the grooved rolls 25 with the same circumferential speed as the work rolls 21, the edges of the helical grooves 29 will move axially along the face of work rolls 21 and progressively scrape every part of the work roll surfaces,

Wiping and collecting in the grooves 29 extraneous particles adhering to the face of work rolls 21. The grooves 29 have spaced apart apertures 29' opening into the bores Coupled with the journal ends 26 of the wiper rolls 25, as seen at 25", are suction connections for removal of dirt or other loose particles which collect in the grooves 29. Thus, the build-up of oxide films, collection of dirt and scale on the work rolls is eliminated. It is to be noted that the diameter of the grooved wiper roll is different from that of the work roll to be cleaned to produce a rolling action between work roll and wiper roll. If wiper and work rolls would be of identical diameters and rotate at identical circumferential speed, the grooved pattern of the wiper roll would just be transferred to its associated work roll, without cleaning action.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show helically grooved wiper rolls applied to a standard four-high rolling mill. An upper work roll is supported by a full-length plain back-up roll 36. Two substantially full length grooved wiper rolls 37, 38, respectively, engage the work roll 35 on either side. Each wiper roll 37, 38 may be provided with opposed helical grooves 33, .34. The grooved rolls 37, 38 have a different diameter than the work roll 35 and, as previously described, the grooves are axially displaced along the surface of the work roll and wipe it in a progressive crisscross pattern, when the associated rolls 35, 37, 38 rotate with the same circumferential speed. For illustration purposes, two wiper rolls 37, 38 are provided for cleaning the top work roll 35. Normally, one such wiper roll would sufiice.

The lower work roll 39 is supported by a plain backup roll 40. The helically grooved wiper roll 41 is of substantially the same operative length and has a different diameter than its work roll 39. The helically grooved wiper roll 42 has a different diameter than the back-up roll 40, with which it is in full length operative engagement. Rotation of the associated rolls with the same circumferential speed again causes continuous and progressive wiping of the lower work roll 39 and backup roll 40. The just described roll arrangement for the lower work roll 39 could be the same as that illustrated for the upper work roll 35, or both top and bottom roll arrangments may be as shown for the lower work roll 39, depending on the desired result. Wiper rolls 37, 38, 41 and 42 may be composed of any suitable material, because they do not directly absorb the work load.

It is essential that a certain contact pressure be maintained between wiper roll and the roll to be cleaned. Such contact pressure may be created by any suitable means, such as the work load, springs, air or hydraulic cylinders or screws (see FIGS. 5 and 6, for instance).

Another application of wiper rolls to a roll stand is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Top and bottom work rolls 45 and 46 are placed in the same vertical plane as upper and lower helically grooved wiper rolls 47 and 48, respectively, which are nested in and supported by short upper and lower pairs of back-up rolls 49 and 50, respectively.

The lower work roll 46 is driven from a suitable source (not shown) and may drive through gears 51, 52, 53, 54 the upper work roll 45 and both helically grooved wipe-r rolls 47 and 48 at substantially the same circumferential speed. The grooved wiper rolls have a different diameter than their work rolls and their back-up rolls and clean all of these rolls during rotation, as heretofore described.

The bearing blocks 31 at the ends of lower wiper roll 48 may be adjustably mounted in housing 55 for convenient realignment when regrinding becomes necessary. For the same purpose and for regulating the contact pressure between work roll 46 and wiper roll 48, bearing brackets 32, carrying short lower back-up rolls 50, may be vertically adjusted and clamped in position by means of screws 43 and 44. The upper Work and wiper rolls are movably mounted in the housing 55 and exert pressure on the work material 56 by means of pressure cylinders 57,

4 which act on hearing blocks at the ends of the upper wiper roll 47 and work roll 45. Pressure cylinders 58 acting on the short upper back-up rolls 49 permit adjustment of the desired contact pressure between wiper roll 47 and work roll 45 and may, in addition, be employed for deflecting said wiper and work rolls, ifdesirable.

FIG. 7 shows part of a Sendzirnir-type rolling mill with two helically grooved, full-length wiper rolls 60 placed between the work roll 61 and the three associated back-up rolls 62 of each top and bottom roll bank.

The wiping action of the grooved rolls 60, which have a different diameter than the Work rolls 61 and back-up rolls 62, keeps both the work rolls 61 and back-up rolls 62 clean and assures an improved finish on the work material in addition to extending materially the time interval between roll changes.

Application of the wiping method to a roller leveler is shown in FIGS. 8 to 12, inclusive. A strip of work materials 65, FIG. 11, is passed between two banks of work rolls for correcting its mill shape. The upper roll bank may consist of an integral entry and center work roll group 66 and an adjustable exit tilt work roll group 67- The bottom roll bank is shown, by way of example, as having an integral entry and center work group 68, in cluding means for deflecting these rolls, and a non-deflectable exit roll group 69.

Each work roll 70, driven by a universal joint 73 and a drive shaft 74, nests between and is in contact throughout its operative length with two helically grooved wiper rolls 71. Each wiper roll 71, driven by a universal joint and a drive shaft 76, nests between pairs of short back-up rolls 72 arranged in sections or banks along said wiper rolls. For illustrative purposes, three such banks of back-up rolls are shown in FIG. 9. The helically grooved Wiper rolls 71 have a different diameter than their associated work rolls 70 and back-up rolls 72 and are rotated at the same circumferential speed as the work rolls 70. A progressive wiping and cleaning action is thereby caused by the edges of the grooves along the work engaging faces of the work rolls 70 and the faces of back-up rolls 72, gathering any extraneous particles adhering to these rolls into said grooves during the leveling process.

The work rolls 70 and wiper rolls 71 of each of the roll groups 66, 67, 68 and 69 are similarly journaled at their ends in hinged, detachable bearing blocks. There- 'fore, only one roll group, the lower exit group 69, which is clearly shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 11, will be described in detail.

The work rolls 70 of the lower exit group 69 are journaled in front and rear work roll bearing blocks 77 and 78, which rest on and are fastened to front and rear detachable bearing units or hinged blocks 79 and 80, respectively. After regrinding of the wiper or work rolls, or both, the work rolls may be realigned with the wiper rolls by the removal of shims 63 and 64, originally placed between said work roll bearing blocks 77 and 78 and hinged blocks 79 and 80. The ends of wiper rolls 71 of group 69 are journaled in the hinged blocks 79 and 80 proper, which fit into fixed front and rear hing base blocks 81 and 82, respectively. Thrust bearings 83, provided in the front work roll bearing block 77, and thrust bearings 84, provided for the wiper rolls in the front hinged block 79, take up any side thrust. Back-up rolls 72 may also be provided with thrust balls 116 (FIG. 12), as described more fully in connection with FIG. 16.

Each of the hinged blocks 79 and 80 is detacha'bly connected to stationary base blocks 81 and 82, respectively, by two retractable pins 85, FIGS. 8 and 9, each of which may be moved into an engaged or disengaged position relatively to the hinged blocks 79 and 80, respectively by stud 86. Each stud 86 is provided at its inner end with an eccentrically located nose 87 which engages a cutout in pin 85. Thus, the latter may be moved into respective engaged or disengaged positions by turning stud 86 one half turn. This simple procedure of disengaging the hinged blocks 79 and 80 from their associated base blocks 81 and 82, respectively, enables quick separation of the work rolls 70 with wiper rolls 71 from their associated backup rolls 72 and gives convenient access for inspection, occasional cleaning-out of any accumulation in the grooves of the wiper rolls, maintenance or roll change. This novel quick-service feature reduces to a fraction the down time required heretofore and makes the application of backed-up levelers feasible in continuously operating production lines, where only limited time is available for maintenance between runs or shifts.

For illustration purposes, three adjustable back-up roll banks or sections 59 are shown for the bottom roll group 68 to deflect the wiper rolls 71 and their associated work rolls 70 for correcting the mill shape of the work material 65 and for regulating the contact pressure between rolls 70 and 71 (FIGS. 9 and The action of the novel helically grooved, substantially full-length wiper rolls extending along the full operative length of work rolls 70 eliminates streaks and pattern marks formerly introduced by the direct contact of short back-up rolls against the faces of the work rolls. The three back-up roll sections 59 may be individually or simultaneously adjusted by a handwheel shaft 87A carrying air clutches 87', which are controlled by air valves 88 and connect the shaft 87A with worms 89 meshing with worm gears 90, fastened to screws 91. The saddle 92 of each adjustable back-up roll bank 59 is raised or lowered by the screws 91 and carries a rockable cradle 93-, to which are fastened bearing blocks 94 for journaling the back-up rolls 72 at their ends.

Each work roll 70 of the leveler shown in FIGS. 8 to 12 is nested between one wiper roll 71 with left hand and one adjacent wiper roll 71 with right-hand cut helical grooves, as best shown in FIG. 12, to cancel out any thrust action and to clean each work roll by two opposing wiping patterns.

FIG. 13 shows a modified wiper roll arrangement in which every other full-length roll is grooved for wiping action and shows one half of its length cut with left-hand and the other half cut with right-hand helical grooves which overlap in the middle of the wiper roll 95. Thus, the thrust is inherently balanced. All helically grooved wiper rolls 95 and ungrooved or plain intermediate rolls 96 and-their associated work rolls 70 may be driven at identical circumferential speed by means of universal joints and drive shafts, as described in connection with FIG. 9. The arrangement of the back-up roll sections may be of any known design or, as shown by way of example in FIGS. 8 to 12, inclusive.

Another modification of the wiper roll arrangement is shown in FIG. 14. Each wiper roll 97 is provided with half-length left-hand and half-length right-hand helical grooves, which may overlap substantially in the middle of each roll. The wiper rolls 97 have no bearing necks and are rotated by frictional contact with their associated work rolls 100. They are located between front and rear work roll bearing blocks 98, 99 of the work rolls 100, which are driven as usual.

A thrust ball 101 may be provided in each end of the wiper rolls 97 to absorb any axial thrust exerted on or by the wiper rolls 97. The balls 101 contact suitably hardened plates, not shown, on work roll bearing blocks 98, 99, respectively. The support of the wiper rolls 97 and the deflection of the work rolls 100 may be the same as described in connection with FIG. 13.

Similar parts have received the same numerals in FIGS. 13 and 14, as previously employed in FIGS. 8 to 12 in order to simplify the description.

Another modified roll arrangement for Wiper rolls in roller levelers is shown in FIGS. and 16. The roll bank shown may be considered to consist of a number of similar roll groups. Each roll group comprises one helically grooved wiper roll 102 nested between two adjacent work rolls 103 and 104 of the same diameter. The

operative lengths of work rolls 103, 104 and associated wiper roll 102 are substantially the same. The wiper roll 102 contacts the respective inner flanks of the work engaging face of the work rolls at 105 and 106. Wiper roll 102 is supported along its length by a plurality of support rolls 107, adjustably journaled at their ends in bearing blocks 108 by eccentric bushings 109 locked in adjusted position by screws 110. The adjustable mounting of the bearings for the support rolls 107 permit rapid alignment during initial installation and after regrinding of wiper rolls 102.

Each one of said pair of work rolls 103, 104 is further supported along its length on its respective outer flanks at 111 and 112 by a plurality of back-up rolls 113, 114, respectively, which are also journaled in said bearing blocks 108. To absorb any side thrust, hardened steel balls 115, 116 at the ends of respective auxiliary rolls 107, 113, 114 bear against respective set-screws 117, 118 in end caps 119, 120 located in the respective bearing bores.

Bearing blocks 108 may be mounted in fixed relation to wiper rolls 102, similarly as shown for the top roll bank in FIG. 9, or may be adjustable, as shown for the bottom roll bank in FIG. 9.

While apertures 29', bores 25' and suction connections 25" have been shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 only, all other applications of wiper rolls disclosed may be similarly arranged. Wiper rolls may be rotated by frictional contact with the roll or rolls to be cleaned, or they may be mechanically driven by means of couplings, universal joints, etc. at the same circumferential speed as their associated roll or rolls to be cleaned. While in most applications, the helically grooved wiper roll is best applied directly to the work roll, wiper rolls may also be employed for cleaning other rolls not in direct contact with the work material, such as shown in the lower roll arrangement of FIGS. 3 and 4, or may be used to clean simultaneously work rolls and auxiliary rolls, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 16, inclusive. The prerequisite is that the diameter of the wiper roll be smaller or larger than the roll or rolls to be cleaned. Thus, in FIG. 2, the wiper rolls 25 are shown larger in diameter than the work rolls 21, as is the usual practice for back-up rolls in rolling mills, while in FIG. 11, for instance, the wiper rolls 71 are shown, by way of example, smaller in diameter than their associated work rolls 70 and back-up rolls 72.

It should also be understood that, in any of the applications shown, the wiper roll may be helically grooved right-hand or left-hand along its entire face, as shown in FIG. 12, for instance; or the wiper roll may be helically grooved left-hand for part of its face and righthand for another part of its face, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 5, 13, 14, for instance; or the opposed helical groove pattern may be repeated several times along the face of the wiper roll. It has been found advantageous to have adjoining terminating points of such opposed helical groove patterns overlap, as clearly shown, for instance, in FIGS. 1 and 5, in order to make certain that the complete operative face of the work roll is cleaned uninterruptedly.

Instead of single helical grooves, as shown, for the wiper rolls, multiple helical grooves, or any other configuration or combination of grooves or recesses, as well as wiper roll arrangements may be employed, which have the effect of cleaning the complete working surface of a roll uninterruptedly. To accomplish this desired progressive wiping action along the face of a roll to be cleaned, while maintaining a rolling action between wiper roll and roll to be cleaned, any recess or groove employed in the surface of the wiper roll must necessarily be located at an angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the wiper roll, as helical or spiral grooves shown by way of example, inherently are. The term groove or recess, as used in connection with the novel wiper roll therefor, is meant to include any surface grooves and/ or surface recesses angularly placed with respect to the longitudinal axis of the wiper roll.

The novel grooved wiper roll has been shown applied to a few different types of equipment, but it lends itself to other machine applications requiring continuous cleaning of a rotating roll surface during operation. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the particular constructions shown. Only such limitations shall be placed upon my invention as specifically set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. The method of continuously cleaning the surface of a metal work roll in a roller leveler for strip material or during the rolling process in a rolling mill, said method comprising maintaining metal Wiper roll means of different diameter than said work roll in operative engagement with said work roll substantially throughout the operative length of the work roll, said wiper roll means having helical grooves along the entire operative face thereof, some of said grooves being left-hand and some righthand, and rotating said wiper roll means and said work roll at substantially the same circumferential speed to produce rolling engagement between the Work roll and said wiper roll means to thereby cause a progressive wiping and cleaning action by the edges of said grooves along the surface of said work roll, thus gathering extraneous particles adhering to the work roll into said grooves during said rolling engagement.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein said wiper roll means comprises a backup wiper roll larger in diameter than the work roll.

3. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein said grooves of the backup wiper roll extend from the center of the wiper roll to the ends thereof.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein adjustable backup roll means is employed in support of the wiper roll means in engagement with the work roll, and said backup roll means being of different diameter than said wiper roll means.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein said wiper roll means comprises one left-hand helically grooved roll and one right-hand helically grooved roll both in operative engagement with the work roll to equalize the thrust by virtue of the two opposed wiping actions upon the work roll.

6. The method of continuously cleaning the surface of metal work rolls in a roller leveler for strip material or during the rolling process of a rolling mill, said method comprising the steps of nesting a work roll between two wiper rolls of different diameter than said work roll in operative engagement with said Work roll substantially throughout the operative length of the work roll, said wiper rolls having helical grooves along the entire operative face thereof, some of said grooves being left-hand and some right-hand, rotating said wiper rolls and said work roll at substantially the same circumferential speed to produce rolling engagement between the work roll and said wiper rolls to thereby cause a progressive wiping and cleaning action by edges of said grooves along the surface of said work rolls, thus gathering extraneous particles adhering to the work rolls into said grooves during said rolling engagement, and engaging each of said wiper rolls with a pair of backup rolls of different diameters than said wiper rolls.

7. A method as defined in claim 6, wherein a backup roll common to said pairs is nested between and has pressure engagement upon said two wiper rolls, and said backup rolls being larger in diameter than said wiper rolls.

8. A method as defined in claim 7, wherein said backup rolls are spaced longitudinally of the work roll and wiper rolls and adjustable for regulating the contact pressure between said wiper rolls and said work rolls.

9. The method of continuously cleaning the surface of pairs of metal work rolls in a roller leveler for strip material or during the rolling process in a rolling mill, said method comprising nesting a metal wiper roll between said pair of work rolls and of different diameter than said work rolls and in operative engagement therewith substantially throughout the operative length of the work rolls, said wiper roll having helical grooves along the entire operative face thereof, some of said grooves being left-hand and some right-hand, rotating said wiper roll and said work rolls at substantially the same circumferen tial speed to produce rolling engagement between the work rolls and said wiper roll to thereby cause a progressive wiping and cleaning action by the edges of said grooves along the surface of said work rolls, thus gathering extraneous particles adhering to the work rolls into said grooves during said rolling engagement, and placing backup roll means of different diameter than the Wiper roll in operative engagement with said wiper roll.

10. A method as defined in claim 9, wherein said backup roll means is adjustable in maintaining the wiper roll in engagement with said pair of work rolls. i

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,151,273 3/1939 Hess 134-2l X 2,234,153 3/1941 Herbert l5--306.1 X 2,574,044 11/1951 Lapeyre 134-6 X 840,440 1/ 1907 Cutler l54 1,002,322 9/ 1911 Sague 15-4 2,111,834 3/1938 Berry 134-9 XR 2,542,205 2/1951 Mort l54 2,752,273 6/1956 Mitchell 134-21 FOREIGN PATENTS 755,098 8/1956 Great Britain.

MORRIS O. WOLK, Primary Examiner.

J. T. ZATARGA, Assistant Examiner. 

1. THE METHOD OF CONTINUOUSLY CLEANING THE SURFACE OF A METAL WORK ROLL IN A ROLLER LEVELER FOR STRIP MATERIAL OR DURING THE ROLLING PROCESS IN A ROLLIN MILL, SAID METHOD COMPRISING MAINTAINING METAL WIPER ROLL MEANS OF DIFFERENT DIAMETER THAN SAID WORK ROLL IN OPERATIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID WORK ROLL SUBSTANTIALLY THROUGHOUT THE OPERATIVE LENGTH OF THE WORK ROLL, SAID WIPER ROLL MEANS HAVINE HELICAL GROOVES ALONG THE ENTIRE OPERATIVE FACE THEREOF, SOME OF SAID GROOVES BEING LEF-HAND AND SOME RIGHTHAND, AND ROTATING SAID WIPER ROLL MEANS AND SAID WORK ROLL AT SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME CIRCUMFERENTIAL SPEED TO PRODUCE ROLLING ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN THE WORK ROLL AND SAID WIPER ROLL MEANS TO THREBY CAUSE A PROGRESSIVE WIPING AND CLEANING ACTION BY THE EDGES OF SAID GROOVES ALONG THE SURFACE OF SAID WORK ROLL, THUS GATHERING EXTRANEOUS PARTICLES ADHERING TO THE WORK ROLL INTO SAID GROOVES DURING SAID ROLLING ENGAGEMENT. 